Road Trips In A Tesla Model S Electric Car: Lessons Learned

It’s one facet of the American myth: Get in your car, drive away from wherever you are, take the road trip.

Think crossing the country to find the California Dream. Think Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Think buddy movies.

MORE: Tesla Model S Road Trip: 1,200 West Coast Electric-Car Miles

More prosaically, think about driving 600 miles to visit friends or relatives, because flying would mean a connecting flight and TSA security theater–and there are no trains.

2013 Tesla Model S

2013 Tesla Model S

Battery electric cars make those kinds of road trips impossible, the spontaneity of 10-minute refueling enabling hundreds, thousands of miles at a stretch.

Or do they?

We published a pair of Tesla road-trip reports this week, each totaling about 1,200 miles, one from the West Coast (the home of Tesla Motors), one from the East Coast.

Both were made possible by Tesla Motors’ ambitious plans to install a nationwide network of Supercharger DC quick-charging stations that work so far only with its Model S electric luxury sedan.

Both of our authors relied on Supercharger stations to give them free recharges of up to 80 percent capacity in 20 to 30 minutes. It’s a benefit unique to owning a Tesla Model S, as long as buyers equip their cars with Supercharger capability.
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